


The Penguin and the Spider Woman - Miss Tula Confesses to Oswald and he Responds

by CobblepotsComfort



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Bonding, Confessions, Courage, Crossroads, Danger, Emotional, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fear of Death, Friendship/Love, Letters, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Platonic Romance, Platonic Soulmates, Tension, Understanding, Unrequited Love, Villains to Heroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-14 03:28:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16485113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CobblepotsComfort/pseuds/CobblepotsComfort
Summary: Miss Tula confesses to Oswald about her initial deception in a letter - but doesn't hide.  He knows where to find her and how to respond.





	1. Miss Tula Reveals All

**Author's Note:**

> If you have been reading my story The Penguin and the Spider Woman, this should make some sense to you! If not, here is a very quick summary: Taran Tula is Oswald's secretary and friend who wants to be more than friends. However she has a dark secret which she keeps wanting to confess to him. She proves her loyalty and love countless times and he has come to trust her but she has still been too afraid to tell him about her initial betrayal - until now.
> 
> The Penguin and the Spider is currently being edited - in fact it's going through a major overhaul, as there are bad continuity errors in it. I also need to add more chapters to illustrate character and relationship development. This is one of those chapters.

**Miss Tula Reveals All**

 

Taran pushed the letter into Oswald’s hand.  Her own hand was trembling - she couldn’t hide her intense trepidation.

 

“What’s this, Miss Tula?” he frowned, a puzzled look appearing in his wide, glistening eyes.  “And - erm - why are you shaking like that?”

 

Her eyes stared back at him, chilling him to the bone.  He’d never seen her look at him like that before. He saw a mixture of fear, sorrow, and a touch of fervent hope in her pale grey eyes.

 

They had been having such a fun, light-hearted evening - drinking wine, remembering good times….recollecting their experiences….

 

“You’ll see, Mr Cobblepot - Oswald - dear.  Please, read it now - it will need an answer.  I'll be waiting in my room.”

 

“Hmmmm - this sounds very cryptic - and - er -  dramatic! Are you alright, Taran?” Oswald cocked his head and gave her a stiff, crooked smile of concern.  

 

“Oswald -  just read it, please,” she urged impatiently.  “I can’t leave this any longer. You’ll understand when you’ve finished reading what I have to say.”

 

“Very well.”  Oswald nodded slowly, eyeing her closely and quizzically.   She turned and began walking away but then seemed to have a sudden change of heart.  She turned on her heel and ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek emphatically.  “I love you, Ozzy!” she gasped. “Never forget that!” 

 

He flinched with surprise, but then felt a warm glow permeate through him.  His heart turned over, then did a little dance of joy for a moment.

 

Then she released him, turned away quickly and scampered off to her room.  He saw her hand go up to her face, as if she were wiping away tears.

  
  


He stood motionless for a few seconds, completely baffled by that weird display he just witnessed and experienced.  Then he went and sat down at his high backed chair by the fireplace and opened up the folded piece of paper slowly.

 

She had written the letter carefully - he could see that.  Her handwriting was normally a spidery scrawl, which was extremely difficult to read  - and that was why she usually typed correspondence and other documents - although on those rare occasions when she decided to use pen and paper, he had learned to manage to decipher the script.  He was getting so used to her little ways and habits now! If only he could fall in love with her - as well as just love her….but they both knew that was impossible.

 

On this occasion, she had clearly taken trouble over the way she’d formed the letters to make the script as legible as possible.  She had obviously wanted this communication to be handwritten - an indication that she wanted it to be intimate and personal - and so had to make the content as neat and clear as she could.

 

This really must be serious!  He was almost too afraid to start reading.  But he took a deep breath, swallowed hard, and began. 

 

“My Dearest Mr Cobblepot, Oswald, or Ozzy (whichever you prefer),”  he read, 

 

“For some time now I have longed to tell you of a very dark, terrible secret that I have hidden from you.  I need to clear my conscience, and so, here it is - an ugly confession to you, my beautiful Oswald.

 

This method of breaking the bad news to you may seem very cowardly.   I did want to tell you in person, but I couldn’t stand the thought of seeing the hurt in your eyes.  I am also sure that I would have found it impossible to articulate myself if the words just came spilling out of  my mouth. My nerves would almost certainly have got the better of me and taken away my command of language and powers of speech - and you deserve better than that.

 

At least this way I am still able to face the consequences.   I won’t run away - I’m prepared to take whatever punishment you feel is due to me.

 

I know betrayal is the sin you hate most of all.  You’ve fallen foul of it so many times, from so many people - people who you thought you could trust.  I’ve been there when your heart was breaking at the memory of it; I’ve listened to you - sympathised, empathised and comforted - because I wanted to.  I was willing to share the burden of pain with you, and still am. When you know what’s been bothering me so much, what’s been preying on my mind and my conscience, you might think me a hypocrite for saying what I just said, and maybe I am, but I am saying it anyway.

 

I want you to know, Oswald, that I’ll always love you,  no matter what you think of me and no matter what you do to me as a result of this admittance to you.  I have ALWAYS loved you. I have NEVER lied about that. And I have never, ever betrayed you in my heart.

 

So, here’s the thing, my dear Cobblepot.  Here’s the rub. Brace yourself and take a stiff drink of you can.

 

When I first came to you, all those months ago,  I was sent to spy on you - to steal your secrets and give them away to the GCPD.  They planted me here, right under your nose - under your own roof. 

 

I am quite frankly deeply ashamed that I could have gone through with it in the first place - but they painted a very damning picture of you and made me think that it was my sworn duty to carry out this ‘assignment’.  They said that you should be imprisoned for the sake of the ‘good people of Gotham’, and, as one of the ‘good people of Gotham,’ (their words, not mine!) they wanted me to help them put you there.

 

At first I agreed to it - I’d seen and heard all the bad press about you and of course had never met you - and I didn’t think to get to know you before I judged for myself.  Like most of the ‘good people of Gotham’, I believed blindly what I’d been told by the powers that be. 

 

But it didn’t take me long at all to decide that being used against you in this way was, at the very least, immoral.  And you were so kind to me, so generous, that it gave me a warm feeling in my heart. It galled me that I could be an instrument of your downfall.  I had already formed a very strong affection for you and I couldn’t imagine anything worse than you being put behind bars. Even before I quickly came to this conclusion, I knew I would never want you hurt.

 

I took to you right away.  In you I found a witty, urbane, dapper and well-mannered man - in short, a real gentleman!  It is so rare to find someone like that these days. Even when you are being tetchy and temperamental, or even psychotic, I love being around you.  You are so bright, beautiful and charismatic. You are like no-one else I ever met, or ever will, of that I’m sure. 

 

Yes, you might have done bad things - sweet Cobblepot, you know that I’m perfectly aware of your criminal activities - but then again, so have many other people. As soon as we met,  I saw pain in your beautiful eyes - real heartbreak, it was as plain as day to me. I could tell that you had been hurt badly on more than one occasion - and then, when you trusted me enough to tell me with your own lips, it just confirmed to me what I’d been certain of all along. 

 

You are NOT a monster, Oswald.  There, I said it - put it down in black and white.  And I don’t care what anyone else says about you. I’ll stand by my words, and stand by you too - that’s if you’ll let me after this.

 

I know you have a heart and soul that can love, that can be damaged and broken, and I know that has happened to you more than once.   I’m grateful for all the kindness you have shown me, and the trust you have learnt to grant me, although you may not now think that I deserve it.  

 

They had no right to scheme against you this way, Oswald.   But, as to Jim Gordon - well, dear, although I can hardly bear to write these words,  I am almost certain that he didn't want to take part in it any more than I did! It would be the simplest thing in the world to put him down in your eyes, and it is so tempting to me to discredit him in every way I can.  But, dear Oswald, two wrongs don’t make a right, do they? 

 

Jim is fundamentally a good man, we both know that - although he can be very misguided and impulsive,  and even, I can safely say, a tad foolish about his decisions and actions on occasions. He means well, I’m sure, but he really does go blundering in with his ham fists and heavy boots sometimes!  You will be the first to agree about that, I’m sure.

 

I know that it was the Commissioner who thought of this course of action,  and Jim was the one charged with putting it into practice. He was given the same brief as me and because of his position in the GCPD,  he was persuaded to go along with it. His hands were tied, as it were. 

 

I still, of course, despise the way he turned his back on you  when he left you in Arkham - abandoning you to your fate. He could at least have checked up on you.  He owed you dearly for the sacrifice you made for him, and the fact that he still denied you any form of protection  still appalls me. But as for this plan, he didn't want any part in this, of that I’m sure. His face and the tone of his voice told me he was conflicted, that he didn’t really want you to be hurt.

 

The fact that he refused to kill you when he had so much at stake for not doing so should tell you something, don’t you think?  He has some respect for you, dear, and I think that on some level he still cares about you, so please don’t judge him yet.

 

I make a point of telling you this because if you decide that you really can’t forgive me and want me out of your life, I would like you to try to forgive him - as I know you will need someone in your corner - someone to be on your side - if I am gone.

 

Although I decided almost immediately that I couldn’t help the GCPD with their plan, I also knew that if I revealed my reluctance too early they would have taken me away from you.  The thought of not being allowed to see you again mortified me. 

 

So of course, I wasn’t sure what to do.  Then I decided that I was going to mislead the GCPD -  put the dogs off the scent, as it were - by feeding them false information.  In short - I became a double agent, for you, without you even knowing about it!

 

Of course, there came a point where they worked out why you were always three or four steps ahead of them, or in a different place entirely to the one they had chased you to, and worked out that I had been double crossing them.  They confronted me about it - well, Jim did, oh my, Ozzy, he looked so uncomfortable about the whole thing! He was angry too, but he had that bewildered frown, that sorry look of disappointment he always gets when someone goes and gets the better of him - I’m sure you know what I mean.   I wasn’t at all ashamed to confess my deception - not like I am now, in telling all to you. The GCPD of course couldn’t be seen to be taking action against me, as that would have completely blown their cover.

 

As to the money they paid me -which I’m sure you are now wondering about -  well, of course I vowed to repay every penny, and I did, Oswald - although it did take a while.  At least, in that sense, I can say that the slate is clean. 

 

By the way, do you remember that dance I did for you - that private audition, all that time ago? You said it scared you, didn’t you!  You also noticed that my mime included a plea for mercy. Well, I hope you know now that it was my clumsy attempt at a confession. I didn’t have the courage to put it into print.  But now I have, there is no way I can back out from facing up to my transgression - my CRIME against you, sweet Cobblepot.

  
  


So, Oswald - darling, please, come to me now - and do what you feel you have to do - but please, whatever it is - do it quickly.  Please don’t keep me in suspense. 

 

I’m yours to do with as you wish.  I am your servant always - and your loving loyal soldier.

 

Taran (Miss Tula) x

 

 


	2. Mr Cobblepot Responds to Miss Tula's Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As it says on the title -Oswald writes back to Miss Tula.

 

Taran waited with baited breath.

 

There was a  knock at her door.  Whatever he was  planning to do with her, he was still being as polite as ever about it!  He was always a gentleman.

 

When she opened the door there was a piece of paper lying on the floor with 'Miss Tula' written on it in HIS  unmistakeable slanting script.

 

There was no sign of her beautiful Oswald.

 

 

She took it back into her room, sat down on her bedside chair, opened the letter and started to read.

 

The letter said:

 

"Well, Miss Tula.  This is quite a revelation!  I can’t believe that I never knew of your deception.  If only I’d known how good you were, I could have used you in ways you couldn’t even imagine in my own little schemes!  Well, maybe there is still time.

 

"I can’t lie to you - this did sting, Miss Tula - Taran.  But - well, you have been so loyal, in all the time I’ve known you.  I have gone from strength to strength with your help and support - and dare I say it, love.  And the way you must have misled the GCPD! That part, Miss Tula - well, that made me chuckle, I couldn’t help it.  For I do remember more than one occasion just after you arrived when the dogs were, indeed, put off the scent! I remember Jim Gordon’s face when I crossed paths with him later.   He did look more than a little disgruntled! Yes, that look he has when someone outwits him is quite a picture, isn’t it? I did wonder how these things came to be, and now, I have the explanation!  It wasn’t just dumb luck after all.

 

"I am of course understandably disappointed about your misleading me at the start - but, Miss Tula - to tell me like this, when you had no need!  No one has been quite so honest about their dishonesty before! You took such a chance on me, knowing what could possibly befall you. And it won’t, dear Taran, of course it won’t!

 

"My dear, dear girl - of course I am not going to punish you!   I think you have been punished enough with the weight this must have had on your conscience.  

 

"Nor am I going to turn you away.  I need you too much - I don’t know what I would do without you.

 

"I understand that they used you, Taran.  That was a very dirty trick. They persuaded you that I was some kind of monster, and yet you changed your mind about me and decided to defect to my side.  Without threats, without bribery - you just decided to do it, of your own volition! This amazes and pleases me more than words can say.

 

"You were my first, my only truly loyal soldier.  And those kind words about Jim Gordon - that shows that you really are earnest about being honest with me.  It would have been the easiest thing in the world for you to blacken his name, as you despise him so much - but no, instead you defend him, and I think you are right to do so too.  I also see glimmers of understanding and sympathy in his eyes when he is not thinking too hard!

 

"So please - my dear - stop tormenting yourself - now!  Consider that slate good and clean. Please, come to the dining room, where we shall share a bottle of very fine wine, get good and drunk,  and give thanks that we found each other - even if it was through a rather, shall we say, circuitous route!

 

"Your ‘confession’ was the closest anyone ever came to telling me “I love you.”  It was brave and sacrificial and I will always respect YOU for that, little Taran!

 

Your friend,

 

Mr Cobblepot - or Oswald, whichever you prefer! X "

 

P.S  We really must keep these letters - to remind ourselves of this great crisis, this turning point in our relationship, and how our bond then became stronger for it.  Now I can trust you with a whole heart, Miss Tula. Now I think we are stuck with one another for good!

 

**Author's Note:**

> You probably get the impression that Miss Tula really loves Mr Cobblepot, and he in turn has come to love her - in his way - and if so, you'd be absolutely spot on <3


End file.
